


Lavender Rose

by writelights (orphan_account)



Category: 18th Century CE RPF
Genre: Historical Lams, M/M, Victorian Flower Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-11 23:23:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13534725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/writelights
Summary: lavender rose - the flower of enchantment.





	Lavender Rose

John Laurens liked to stay up late at night, watching his darling Alexander sleep. He’d sit and watch him breathing, the way his chest would rise and fall and rise again, a never ending cycle that he found oddly comforting. He’d count the freckles that decorated his chest, just like he had counted the stars in the sky when he went camping with his father as a child. Occasionally Alexander would wake up to John watching him, but he never seemed to mind. He would simply murmur his name and pull him closer before falling back into his quiet slumber.

He liked to walk through the forest barefoot at dawn, letting his fingertips barely brush the wildflowers and his aching toes sink into the soft dirt. He’d contemplate life while counting thousands of leaves on thousands of trees, while listening to the musical sounds of songbirds in the morning. He’d take his sketchbook with him and draw what he saw, whatever it may be. Beautiful blue butterflies and baby birds in the spring, frost covered branches and snowy owls in the winter.

But this morning he awoke late, probably because he had stayed up well past midnight watching Alexander. The sun was well up and the place next to him was empty, as was the room. He lay in bed a few minutes longer, waiting for Alexander to burst in to wake him up. Eventually he resigned himself to the fact that he was most likely already busy translating letters and threw his legs over the side of the bed. The cool air hit his legs, causing him to jerk. It would be a long day, he could feel it.

“Hello, Laurens,” Alexander greeted him as he walked into the aide-de-camps’ office. He was sitting at the table next to Meade, a few sheets of paper spread out between the two. “There’s coffee in the kitchen, if you’d like some.”

“Not today, thank you. I’m already behind enough.” He sat down on Alexander’s other side and took one of the letters from him.

The three men worked in silence, as usual. It would be awkward if they weren’t used to it, but alas, they were. Meade had a tendency to tap his foot, which greatly irritated John, but everytime he looked like he was about to snap at him Alexander would set a hand on his thigh. “Don’t,” he’d whisper, tracing tiny patterns with his fingers.

And John would listen because it was Alexander. If it were anyone else it wouldn’t affect him, he wouldn’t care. But it was his dear, sweet Alexander, so he didn’t yell at Meade, no matter how much he wanted to.

Around noon Alexander began gathering his papers into a pile and stood up. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking a walk,” he announced.

“I’ll join you.” John stood up and started to follow him, much to Meade’s displeasure.

The two walked together quietly until they were near the edge of the woods. “Where are we going?” John asked. He had only been expecting a short walk around camp, nothing more.

“For a walk, remember?” Alexander had never been one to answer questions directly.

John followed him as he led the way into the woods, the narrow path not wide enough for them to walk side-by-side. They walked like that for awhile, John behind and Alexander, until the came upon a clearing. It was John’s clearing, the one he went to in the mornings, the one where him and Alexander would have little moonlit picnics before falling asleep looking at the stars.

But in the afternoon light it was a different kind of beautiful. The sun was high above them, the sky was as blue as could be. Colorful wildflowers and bushes filled with ripe berries surrounded them, and it took all of John’s self-restraint not to kiss Alexander right then and there.

“You’ve never seen it in the afternoon, have you?” Alexander sat down in the center of the clearing before grabbing his arm and pulling him down next to him. “It’s quite romantic, isn’t it?”

John nodded and made to speak, but Alexander placed a finger on his lips to silence him. “There’s no need, love,” he said, a smile spreading across his flame-speckled face. “I know what you’re going to say.”

“You know, you’re pretty when you smile. Downright enchanting, if I do say so myself,” he said.

Alexander batted at his shoulder and climbed into his lap, pushing him down in the grass. “Show me just how enchanting.”

Instead of kissing him or stroking his face or doing any number of other things, John pushed Alexander off of him and stood up. He began to walk around the edge of the clearing, searching for something. “What are you doing?” Alexander called from the center where he still sat, abandoned.

“Looking for something.” He was examining the flowers, each and every one of them. Their names and meanings ran through his head, a number of which could have worked for an occasion such as this. But none of them were what he was looking for.

_Buttercups are childish, orchids are for beauty…_

At last, there it was, the flower he was looking for. He picked it ever so gently, careful not to prick his fingers on the thorns. He returned to Alexander and sat down across from him, holding out the light purple rose.

“What is that?” Alexander sounded unsure, but he reached for the flower anyway.

John handed it to him. “Careful, there’s thorns.”

He examined the rose quietly, his fingertips just barely brushing the lavender petals. “I don’t understand,” he said, looking at John. “Why’d you bring me this?”

“A lavender rose, the flower of enchantment. They’re quite rare, I’m surprised I could find one.”

Alexander smiled yet again, his face flushing pink with joy. “I love you, Jacky.”

“And I you.” And with that he leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the other man’s lips.


End file.
